


Immaculate

by kih



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Angst, Crimes & Criminals, Eventual Smut, Korean Mafia, M/M, Minor Character Death, Organized Crime, Romance, Single Parents, Violence, more tags will be added over time, probably won't be too graphic because I'll probably be really bad at the details lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-07-06 18:44:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15891861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kih/pseuds/kih
Summary: “What’s your profession? You always dress so nicely, are you a businessman? Are you rich?” Kihyun added with a teasing smile. Changkyun could only laugh lightly, a smile easily sliding onto his face.“I guess you could say I’m a businessman."Mafia!au and Single parent!au





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is my first fic i'm posting on this site and the first mx fic i'm ever posting!

“Thank you, please come again soon,” Kihyun bowed his head with an amicable smile as he handed over the plastic bag to the customer across the counter. The man returned the gesture kindly before stepping out, and it took a moment and the sound of the little bell over the door to chime for Kihyun’s smile to drop completely.

His gaze lazily sauntered towards the clock on the cash register.

  

6:28 PM.

  

Kihyun let out a tired whine, slumping against the counter out of mere exhaustion. He had been working at the convenience store since the early morning and had only taken one break for lunch. It was all out of desperation, he was still 200-thousand won shy from his half of rent, all due within the next week. His normal shift at the convenience store only paid so much, so he had no choice but to beg Mrs. Jung, the store owner, for overtime hours.

 He heard almost inaudible shuffling approaching him from behind, and felt a gentle pat on his back.

 “You worked hard today, Kihyun, you should go home now,” Mrs. Jung rasped out, her voice straining.

“I still have thirty minutes left, and Seokwon doesn’t get out of cram school until seven. I can—”

“Just go home, son,” the old woman smiled, “don’t worry, I can handle my store for thirty minutes until that boy comes. I did it for sixty years, I can do it for sixty more.”

Kihyun hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other, before Mrs. Jung clicked her tongue, shoving Kihyun out from behind the counter.

“I said go home, so go home before I change my mind!” 

He scrambled into a deep bow, until his body was bent in half at a ninety-degree angle. “Thank you, Mrs. Jung! I’ll see you on Thursday!”

Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Kihyun stepped out of the convenience store and glanced up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, and he noted that the August temperature from earlier that day had dropped a bit. 

Letting out a sigh, he started on his way home.

 

 

Kihyun perked up, taking note of Minhyuk, his roommate and best friend, standing in the middle of street.

“Minhyuk!” he called out, waving his arm and smiling out of relief. Normally, Minhyuk was always picking at his last nerve, but on days like this, he was more like a sight for sore eyes. The towering man turned to him immediately at the sound of his voice, storming towards him within an instant. “What are you doing—”

“Why haven’t you been answering my calls? I’ve been calling you for the past hour!”

“Uh, you know I can’t really use my phone at the register. Mrs. Jung hates it. Why, what’s wrong? Did you set the house on fire?”

Minhyuk began spilling out words like a broken gumball machine, and in his southern dialect too. It only confused Kihyun further.

“Minhyuk, talk slowly, I don’t understand—”

“Kihyun,  _Kihyun_ , I’m sorry. Yeonjung is missing,” Minhyuk stated in all seriousness, and it takes Kihyun a second to process that  _no_ , Minhyuk was not joking, and  _yes_ , he just said Yeonjung was missing.

“Wait,  _what_?”

“Yeonjung is missing. I went to the kitchen to prepare food for her, I was literally gone for ten minutes. And when I came back, she was gone. I searched everywhere, Kihyun, I swear. I can’t—”

“Fuck fuck  _fuck_ , no,” the shorter pulled away, feeling the panic setting in and taking control of his entire body. “Where—  _why_ —where did she go? What am I going to do? Where—”

“I’ve been asking the neighbors, I even asked Mr. Park from 301 if he saw her, he just scoffed at me and slammed the door, and you  _know_ I would  _never_ ask Mr. Park—”

“Minhyuk, what am I going to do?” Kihyun squeaked. He wasn’t the best in situations like this (well, neither was Minhyuk), and it was easy for his brain to completely stop functioning whenever something completely unexpected and distasteful happens.

The taller turned to him, equally as panicked.

“Kihyun, relax, take a deep breath—”

“No, fuck relaxing, Minhyuk! My  _daughter_ is missing, I don’t know where she is, and even you said Mr. Park hasn’t seen her and he sees  _everything_." 

“Okay, okay, look, I haven’t checked anything past Eighth Street, so maybe she went further than that. So you go that way and I’ll go check by the market if anybody saw her.”

Kihyun let out a panicked yell before running off in the direction of Eighth Street.

 

 

“Yeonjung! Yeonjung-ah!” Kihyun yelled out, chest heaving out of exhaustion. “Yeonjung-ah, daddy’s looking for you, please! Just come out and it’ll all be fine!” 

He had searched all of ninth, tenth, and eleventh street, running in and out of stores and knocking on doors asking if they had seen a little girl, holding up his phone with a photo of her with a shaking hand. He checked the time, and scanned over the seemingly-hundreds of texts from Minhyuk, all of which Kihyun _knew_ were about not finding her. It had been over half an hour.

Kihyun wasn’t the pessimistic kind, but he was never the optimistic type either. With all that’s happened to him in his life, he found no reason to stay bright eyed and hopeful all the time. It was completely irrational for him to do so, and for his own safety, and for Yeonjung’s too, he never stayed too optimistic at one time. It was a dangerous thing, when they lived a life so hard as theirs. Failed expectations and disappointments were something Kihyun wanted to avoid, and he would do everything in his power so that Yeonjung would never know what it’s like to feel so high up, only to come crashing down.

Kihyun was the only thing Yeonjung knew, and she didn’t deserve any more disappointment.

The phone in Kihyun’s hand was buzzing. The vibration felt strong, as did the sounds of cars passing and the sound of people talking on the streets. Kihyun’s head was throbbing, his body was sore, but most of all is heart was hurting and it was the most painful thing to feel like the thing you loved the most felt so far away.

Kihyun answered the call and put the phone to his ear.

“Kihyun, nobody at the market saw her. I’m going to check all the way to the post office, and if she isn’t, I’m going to go straight to the police station. Has anybody seen her on your end?”

“N-No, I checked up to Eleventh Street. I-I’m gonna look further—”

“Kihyun, relax, okay, we’re gonna find her—”

“I-I—” He was about to have a panic attack, and it was the first one in years to take over.  _Fuck._

“Kihyun, breathe, we’ll find her.”

Kihyun inhaled deeply. He hated feeling so weak and so vulnerable, but this was his  _daughter_. She was all he had in this life, and if anything were to happen to her—

“ _Shit_ ,” Kihyun whined, his eyes stinging a bit. He raised his head, staring up at the darkening sky to prevent the tears from falling. “Fuck, okay, I-I’ll call you back in a couple minutes.” He hung up and ran straight down Twelfth Street.

 

 

Kihyun was a few steps away from breaking down in the middle of the street when he saw her.

 

Yeonjung, in the same pretty pink outfit Kihyun had laid out for her this morning.

 

And there was a man, dressed in all black, couched down in front of her.

 

“Yeonjung! Yeonjung-ah!” He yelled out desperately before sprinting towards her. Kihyun scooped her up into his arms, holding her close to him before letting out a sigh of relief, patting her head and was damn near close to tears. “Yeonjung, I’ve been worried sick, didn’t I tell you not to leave without Uncle Minhyuk? You can’t just leave—thank god you’re okay, you shouldn’t just—”

His eyes landed on the man who was standing up from his crouched position. They were almost of a similar height, if the stranger was not a bit taller. 

Within an instant, Kihyun’s relieved expression hardened, brows and lips turning down in an offended scowl.

Kihyun leaned back to look at Yeonjung, inspecting her face and body of any foul play. “Are you alright? Did the strange man hurt you?”

He heard a laugh, almost like a scoff, coming from the latter, and it took all of Kihyun not to dial the police in that very moment. The man looked rather amused, almost  _smug_ , and Kihyun could barely understand as to why this offender found it to be the ideal time to act all high and mighty.

“You—”

“The cute oppa was helping me go home!” Yeonjung piped brightly in her baby voice, turning to the man with a happy grin.

“What?” Kihyun narrowed his eyes, gaze still hard on the man who then shrugged.

“I saw her wandering outside my apartment building,” he motioned towards the complex down the street. “She was alone, so I went to ask if she was lost.”

Kihyun’s expression softened ever-so-slightly, and he was left opening and closing his mouth in attempt to muster some words in response. The father huffed, out of irritation and embarrassment, before bowing both his and Yeonjung’s head.

“Thank you,” Kihyun gruffed out, “have a nice day.” He sped away with Yeonjung in his arms, face flushed in utter embarrassment, refusing to take one look back at the man who watched them disappear down the street.

 

 

Kihyun had a death grip on Yeonjung’s hand.

 

After the incident the previous day, he refused to hold her hand any looser. He had kept a watchful eye on her all day, and even when he was juggling three plastic bags packed with groceries, he refused to let go of her. The one time Yeonjung went missing was one time too many.

“Daddy, my hand hurts,” Yeonjung whined, tugging slightly.

“And my heart still hurts from when you ran away last night, so let daddy hold your hand as tight as he wants,” Kihyun replied sweetly. He sighed inwardly. It was just a couple more blocks until they would get to the apartment.

Kihyun always had his fair share of heart attacks in the past four years of raising Yeonjung, but this by far, had to be the worst. Even worse than the time when she was two, ran out into a busy intersection and caused a four-car accident. Kihyun almost died from shock, and the happy little grin on her face did nothing to ease the pain in his chest.

It was the worst, only because if had lost her, he wouldn’t have known where she was. He wouldn’t know if she was okay, or if she was even alive, and he’d spend the rest of his life thinking,  _worrying_ , wondering where she was or how it happened.

If anything happened to Yeonjung, he would hate himself, down to his bones. If Yeonjung was gone, it meant everything he lived for would be gone too. And to live a life like that wouldn’t be a life at all.

“Oppa!” Kihyun heard Yeonjung chirp loudly, and felt her hand slip from his hand within an instant. He felt his heart stop once again, panic arising in his chest as he watched Yeonjung’s tiny body run away, distancing farther and farther away from him by the millisecond.

“Yeonjung!” Kihyun cried out, almost dropping the grocery bags in his hand as he scrambled after his daughter.

Yeonjung was laughing freely,  _happily_ , as she latched onto a man’s leg, hugging onto the black fabric of his pants. “Oppa!”

Kihyun freezes in his spot, meters away, and a frown graces his lips to see the same exact man from last night, the one who was with Yeonjung when he found her. The man, dressed in all black once again, crouched down to her eye level, offering her a smile and a pat on the head.

Kihyun can’t tell if the sight is cute or upsetting, and the fact that his daughter is engrossed in a fully-fledged conversation with the stranger only makes Kihyun more confused and more uncomfortable. And yet he finds himself standing before them, and the other man glances up at him before straightening himself out, placing a hand over Yeonjung’s head as if to keep her in place (as if she’s really going anywhere, since she was now grabbing onto his hand). 

“Yeonjung, I told you that you can’t just run away like that,” Kihyun scolded. Yeonjung didn’t seem to pay any mind, as she was now playing with the man’s fingers like she’s never seen a hand before. The taller man laughed, taking note of Kihyun’s irritated glare directed towards him.

“I’m sorry,” the man spoke, a hint of playfulness in his voice, “it seems she really likes me.” Kihyun could only blink, and he was surprised that he didn’t notice how  _deep_ the man’s voice was yesterday. The shorter huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s not that big of a deal, she likes everybody,” Kihyun scoffed, casting his eyes to the side to avoid the man’s piercing gaze. “You’re not special.” The man let out that teasing, amused laugh once again.

“I’m Changkyun.”

Kihyun raised his eyes, looking at the latter with a sense of doubt and uncertainty. There was something strange about this man, this man who wore all-black, this man who exuded an oddly powerful aura. Kihyun couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and it was overwhelmingly unsettling.

And yet there was something about this  _Changkyun’s_ gaze that made him feel…  _weak_.

“I’m Kihyun.”  _Shit_. “And this is… this is my daughter, Yeonjung.”

And yet Changkyun’s gaze remained on him, unreadable, and a bit breathtaking.

Kihyun was about to open his mouth when Yeonjung tugged hard at Changkyun’s hand before raising her arms up, asking to be carried. Changkyun let out a soft chuckle before lifting her with ease.

As much as Kihyun goes on and on about stranger danger on a normal basis, he found it oddly cute and endearing, and there was some part of him that felt like he was… melting. Kihyun acted like this with Yeonjung all the time, she was his daughter after all, but seeing it with his own eyes… it looked strangely domestic, and it set off alarms in Kihyun’s head.

“We, um, we have to go. I have to,” Kihyun cleared his throat, checking the time on his phone, “I have to get to work in an hour, so…”

“Oh, of course,” Changkyun nodded, but was met with protest when he attempted to pry Yeonjung off of him.

“Yeonjung, honey, let go of the man, we have to go home—”

“No!” she cried, clutching onto him harder, and even buried her face into Changkyun’s neck.

“Yeonjung-ah,” Changkyun cooed, his baritone voice sending chills down Kihyun’s spine, “you have to go home now, okay?” The girl pouted  _that_ pout, the one that breaks Kihyun’s heart, the same one that weakened Kihyun enough to buy her a fifty-thousand won doll.

Kihyun heard Changkyun let out a soft whine, and he too had a small pout on as he looked back at Yeonjung. The father internally groaned, watching as the two had a little pout-off in the middle of the sidewalk.  _You have got to be fucking kidding me_.

 

 

“I’m sorry that she’s acting like this. It’s true she likes everybody, but I’ve never seen her be so… clingy, I guess.” Kihyun scratched the back of his neck, bashfully.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” Changkyun hummed back as they walked side-by-side towards Kihyun’s apartment.

“Ahaha, yeah…” the shorter nodded, awkwardly.

“She’s a really cute kid,” the latter piped, letting out a giggle when Yeonjung grabbed his nose in her hand.

“Yeah,” Kihyun grinned, proudly, “she is, isn’t she?”

“Mhm,” Changkyun smiled at Yeonjung, “she takes after you, huh.”

Kihyun blinked, unsure of what to say to that. He couldn’t tell if Changkyun was just saying that casually, or if he trying to make a pass at him, but Kihyun felt the tips of his ears heat up nonetheless.  _What the fuck?_

The shorter cleared his throat. “D-Do, um, do you have any kids?”

Changkyun turned to him with a laugh.

“Me?” 

“Um, yeah, you?” 

“Nah,” he shook his head, still grinning. Yeonjung tugged at his hair, earning a slight wince and a tiny ‘ _ouch_ ’ in response. “I’m only twenty one.”

“So?” Kihyun frowned. “I’m twenty four.”

The man turned to Kihyun and gave him a brief once-over, before nodding. “And for other reasons, too. I don’t have a kid, no.” 

They had talked about Yeonjung, for the most part, for the entire walk to Kihyun’s apartment. There must have been something about Changkyun that would make Yeonjung fall asleep in his arms, since the girl only ever fell asleep while being held by Kihyun. Not even Minhyuk’s cuddly arms could make her feel peaceful enough to doze off.

 

“Yeonjung-ah,” Changkyun cooed softly as he shook her gently in his arms, “time to wake up.” Kihyun found himself smiling fondly, much to his surprise. He quickly wiped the smile off his face before Changkyun looked at him.

“Thanks,” Kihyun took a sleepy Yeonjung into his arms. “I’ll… We’ll see you around?”

“Yeah,” the younger nodded with a smile, patting Yeonjung on the head lightly. He gave a small wave to Kihyun before walking off down the sidewalk.

When Kihyun entered the apartment, he was met with Minhyuk’s scrutinizing gaze.

“What?” 

“Don’t ‘ _what_ ’ me, Yoo Kihyun,” Minhyuk’s voice was a harsh whisper as he trailed after Kihyun, into his bedroom where he placed the sleeping Yeonjung down on the bed, “you know  _what_.”

“No, I don’t,” the younger rolled his eyes, pulling the blanket over his daughter’s tiny body before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

“Yes you do!” Minhyuk hissed. The two exited the bedroom, and it was only until they were both standing in the kitchen that Minhyuk raised his voice to a normal volume. “Who was that?”

“Who was what?”

 “That man!” the elder shoved him lightly by the shoulder. “I saw him out the window. The one who was carrying Yeonjung. Who is he?”

“Some guy.”

“Kihyun!”

“ _Ugh_ , you’re so annoying,” Kihyun groaned. “It was the guy who found Yeonjung yesterday. Yeonjung spotted him while we were walking home and she ran to him and  _yeah_ that happened. She wouldn’t let go of him, so he ended up walking with us until we got here.”

“Oh my god,” Minhyuk gasped, “is he gay?”

“Minhyuk, shut up,” Kihyun shoved him, “who cares?”

“Me! And  _you_! Well, you should.”

“And why is that?”

“Because,” the elder grinned sleazily, “have you ever met a guy that Yeonjung refuses to let go of? She fell asleep in his arms, for crying out loud. If that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is.”

“It’s just a coincidence.” the shorter rolled his eyes. “Maybe he just has comfortable arms.”

“If that’s the case, then you should definitely smash.”

“Remind me why I still live with you?”

“Because I’m your best friend and I also happen to be a  _great_ babysitter.” Minhyuk grinned smugly. “But seriously? You should get into dating. To get your mind off of things. Enjoy life. Stuff like that!”

“I am enjoying my life.”

“Kihyun, you’re twenty four, you’ve already spent your prime years raising Yeonjung. Did you know that once you hit twenty three, you just get uglier and uglier? You’re running out of time, Kihyun!”

“You’re being dramatic. It’s not necessary, alright? I don’t have to date or whatever, all I need is Yeonjung and I’m set. Besides, you’ll be jealous once someone’s there to take your spot as the  _second_ most important person in my life.”

  


 

1:13 AM.

 

Yeonjung was sound asleep, her soft snores sounding like peaceful music to Kihyun’s ears. 

Kihyun slipped into bed beside her, wrapping an arm around her small body protectively. The past few days have been quite interesting, all thanks to her. 

He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. 

He would have to work another overtime shift at the convenience store, and two more shifts at the restaurant in order to pay his half of the rent. Kihyun also had his eyes on something different, something he saw in the paper earlier that day. There was a nice kindergarten that was open for registration, but it was a  _really_ nice one. Yeonjung would be of age pretty soon, and it would be a dream for Kihyun to see Yeonjung go to a good school. To graduate. To get a degree. To be both anything she wanted and everything  _he_ wasn’t.

It was tough being a parent. Trying to raise a child with the best of your abilities, despite having quite  _few_ abilities in the first place, all while trying to avoid them from becoming anything like yourself.

Kihyun sighed.

It was hard. It was especially hard raising a child all on his own. Kihyun had felt incredibly guilty every so often, aware that Yeonjung had no motherly figure in her life, and she will most likely never have one. She’ll be stuck saying Kihyun was both her father  _and_ mother, and it worried Kihyun that she could get bullied and teased for it.

And then Changkyun appeared in his mind. It took Kihyun by surprise, enough to make Kihyun flinch from his thoughts alone. He didn’t understand the correlation, but Kihyun found himself entertaining the thought of this mysterious Changkyun. This Changkyun who was twenty-one, no children, deep voice, and a nice smile.

Kihyun doesn’t know what about him was so intriguing.

But there was something, possibly  _everything_ , about him that left Kihyun lying awake, staring at his ceiling thinking about the man in all-black.

 

 

Several days had passed. Kihyun hadn’t seen Changkyun since then, and everything seemed to go back to how it used to be.

Yeonjung had begged Kihyun to bring her to Changkyun the day after, and the day after that. Kihyun even found himself taking the long way home with Yeonjung, passing by his street just in case. But Changkyun was nowhere to be found, and it didn’t exactly shock Kihyun.

 It was only until Kihyun was finishing up his shift at the convenience store when the little bell above the door chimed.

Kihyun raised his gaze from the magazine he was boredly flipping through, chirping out a “welcome” before his eyes landed on Changkyun in his usual all-black, dark hair styled neatly.

“Changkyun,” Kihyun let it slip. The man smiled at him. 

“It’s been a while,” Changkyun hummed. He headed toward the back, snaking through to the candy aisle. Within a minute or two, he was back at the counter, with three lollipops in his hand. Kihyun cocked a brow at his items, earning another smile from the younger man. 

The cashier scanned the items. “Um, that’ll be two thousand won.” Changkyun reached into his back pocket, pulling out a sleek black leather wallet. Kihyun’s eye caught onto the numerous cards in the folds as Changkyun retrieved two thousand-won notes before handing it to him. “Thanks.”

Changkyun took a lollipop, unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. “How’s Yeonjung?” 

“She’s fine,” Kihyun laughed, a bit awkwardly. “She’s been, uh, she’s been wanting to see you. I think she misses you a lot.”

“Well tell her I miss her a lot too,” Changkyun grinned. “And how have you been?”

“Me?” Kihyun blinked. The younger nodded. “Uh.. I’ve been alright, I guess?”

“Good to hear.” He looked down at his watch,  _gold_ , before looking back up at Kihyun with a slight frown. “Sorry, I have to go. Work is calling.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” the smaller nodded, bowing his head slightly. Changkyun pushed the remaining two lollipops towards Kihyun, earning a questionable look form the elder.

“One’s for you, and one’s for the little sweetheart.” Changkyun winked with a wide grin, lollipop still in his mouth.

“Oh,” Kihyun felt his face go up in flames. “Um, thank you.”

“See you around?” 

“Yeah,” the elder offered a tiny, bashful smile, “see you around.” He gnawed on his lip in panicked thought.  _Come on Kihyun, do it. Just go for it, what’s the worst that could happen?_

Changkyun had his hand on the door when Kihyun called out, voice a bit strained.

“Hey, um, Changkyun?”

The younger stopped, turned to Kihyun and pulled the lollipop from his mouth.

There was something in the way that Changkyun looked at him, eyes playful and knowing, yet dark and with an inexplicable sense that had Kihyun’s voice stuck somewhere in his throat.  _ No. You can’t. _

“Sorry, um,” Kihyun let out a breathy laugh, eyes falling to Changkyun’s shoes—black leather oxfords—before he raised his gaze once more, “nothing, actually. Nevermind. See you around?” He repeated, fingers gripping hard at the edge of the counter. 

Changkyun blinked at him, both brows raised slightly before his lips split into another smile and nods. “See you around.”

And just like that, he was gone again. 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What are you… um… what are you doing here?” Kihyun questioned, checking down at the time on his phone. “It’s really late.”  
> “I was waiting for you.”  
> “That’s… questionable. Didn’t you come here with a date? Where is she?”  
> Changkyun stared at him, brows raised with an unreadable expression before a small smile overtook his features, and pushed himself off the wall.  
> “A date?” he asked as he stepped forward, Kihyun taking one towards him as well. “If that’s what you want to think it was, then sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! it's been a while~ pls read this first!
> 
> you guys will probably hate my guts for this (i'm so sorry omg) but i did make a tinyyy little tweak to the ending of the last chapter (it’s literally just the last few lines), and it's sort of an important change for this chapter to make sense lol

“I honestly think you’re an idiot,” Minhyuk sighed somewhere into the air as he ran the brush through Yeonjung’s wet hair gently, eyeing the black locks passing through the tiny teeth of the comb as the little girl had her eyes glued to the television screen ahead.

Kihyun could only sigh and shrug, tugging at his tie that Minhyuk had tied way to tight around his neck. Though he was somewhat wishing Minhyuk had just choked him with the damn thing because  _yes_ , even he agreed he was an idiot at this point.

But then again, if he were to die, Yeonjung would be left all alone and that was the last thing he’d want to happen.

“Do you mind not calling me an idiot in front of my own daughter,” Kihyun muttered, running his fingers up through his fringe in attempt to manipulate the little bit of gel that hadn’t dried yet, “her brain is a literal sponge and the last thing I need at this point is my daughter reminding me that I’m an idiot. Hearing it from  _you_ , an even  _bigger_ idiot than I am, is enough, in all honesty.”

“Quit worrying, she‘s not even listening,” the latter snorted. “You’re so…  _ugh_. You totally had your chance to ask him out, and you blew it. But fine, whatever. If you want to be alone forever, go ahead.” He  _knew_ he shouldn’t have mentioned it to Minhyuk. Kihyun frowned, fighting the urge to roll his eyes and instead searching for the time on the wall clock in the living room.

 

5:23 PM.

 

“I gotta go,” sighed Kihyun as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

“Ugh, can’t you stay for two more minutes? I have more to say to you,” Minhyuk paused the brushing to scowl up at the latter.

“No, I don’t think so,” he snorted, “not unless I wanna be late for the bus and get scolded by my boss. And I think I’d rather  _not_ get scolded by you also, so…”  Kihyun shrugged before kissing Yeonjung on the head. “Daddy will be back soon, behave with Uncle Minhyuk, okay? Don’t leave the house without him, do you hear me?”

“Yes, daddy!”

Kihyun hesitated before giving Minhyuk a look. “Please watch her, okay?”

“What? When do I not?” Minhyuk scoffed.

“Literally—”

“That was  _once_  okay, but  _fine_ , if it makes you feel any better, I’ll be sure to watch her.” the elder rolled his eyes dramatically before pushing him with his free hand. “Now go! And if you guys have any leftovers, bring ‘em back for me. As much as I love kimchi I’m getting sick and tired of eating this shi—” Kihyun glares “— _stuff_  all the time.”

“I’ll try,” the younger answered before making his way to the door, “but I’m not making any promises.”

“Whatever,” Minhyuk was already waving him away, “just don’t get any of that weird vegetable thing you brought back last time, the one with the cucumbers? Gross.” He shuddered and faked a gag, earning an amused giggle from Yeonjung. Kihyun watched as Minhyuk grinned down at her and faked another gag for her enjoyment.

“I said no promises, you brat,” Kihyun snorted, “okay, I really gotta go now. I’ll see you later tonight when I get back. And watch her  _please_!”

“God, yeah, I know  _mom_ ,” Minhyuk rolled his eyes, waving him off again as he closed the door behind him.

  
  
  


It was almost a week since Kihyun’s last encounter with the ever-so-mysterious Changkyun and he hadn’t seen him since. Yeonjung was still quite attached to him, and practically ripped the lollipop from Kihyun’s hand when he came home later that day. Yeonjung was beginning to ask him less and less to take him to see Changkyun, though, and part of Kihyun was somewhat disappointed at the fact that maybe this entire Changkyun thing was just a temporary kind of thing. One that was only supposed to last for a week or two, before all of them moved on with the rest of their lives—since they did have lives before they met, and they have lives that they would live even if they’ve never met.

The question was still fresh in Kihyun’s mind, though.  _Who was Changkyun?_

It was so odd, the image of him, always in no color other than black, so many cards in the slots of his wallet, a gold watch that could probably pay off much of Kihyun’s debts at once.

And yet it was, somehow, captivating in an almost overwhelming sense—Kihyun didn’t know what any of it meant, and almost every inch of his being _knew_ that somebody like Changkyun should be kept away from, and yet...

Every inch of Kihyun’s mind couldn’t bear to stay away from the thought of him, the man in all-black.

Kihyun flinched as the bus hissed to a stop,  _his_ stop, and he quickly gathered his things and jumped off the bus.

On five out of seven days a week, Kihyun worked the mornings and afternoons at the convenience store. On six out of seven days, Kihyun worked the night shifts at  _La Perle_ , a rather nice, upscale kind of restaurant where only the  _finely_ dressed attended for  _fine_ dining. People who dressed like Changkyun. Those kinds of people.

The pay wasn’t as great as it seemed to be at first, since it was a waiter’s salary anyway, and people of this class enjoyed tipping significantly or barely tipping at all—and many chose the latter, more often than not.

Kihyun didn’t necessarily hate the kinds of people who he served at work, but he did find it a bit unfair at times while he was struggling to just get his daughter proper meals everyday, while these people paid large sums just to barely finish half their plates.

Kihyun rushed in through the back door, heading straight to clock in.

 

5:58 PM.

 

Letting out a heavy sigh of relief, Kihyun visibly relaxed, allowing his bag to fall from his shoulder as he dragged his way to the lockers in the employee break room.

“Hey Kihyun,” Hyunwoo, Kihyun’s co-worker and fellow waiter greeted once he spotted the small black-haired man enter the kitchen.

“Hi, Hyunwoo hyung,” Kihyun sighed, giving the much taller man a tired smile before throwing his bag into his assigned locker. “How is it out there?” He motioned towards the swinging traffic doors, out to the main dining area.

“Not too bad,” Hyunwoo shrugged with a small smile, “but… there’s going to be some pretty… interesting people out there. Don’t really know who they are, but… be careful, is all I’m saying. I think Jeongmin’s serving those tables, though, but just in case.”

“Interesting?” Kihyun asked, raising a brow.

“You’ll see once you get out there,” the taller man gave him one of those goofy grins, earning a smile and laugh from the shorter before he leaving the break room.

Kihyun let out a groan as he stretched out, preparing himself for the next four hours of nonstop serving. It was all so  _so_ tiring, and there were plenty of times where Kihyun had contemplated giving it all up, even when he had nowhere else to go, no other options left. But Kihyun had a solution for moments like this. Kihyun pulled out his phone, pressing on the button to reveal his lockscreen photo of Yeonjung. Kihyun sighed, smiling a bit before tucking his phone back into his bag and pushing his way through the traffic doors into the main dining area.

  
  


 

It was around 7:30 when Kihyun finally realized what Hyunwoo had meant by “interesting people”.

There were four of them, dressed like how everyone else was dressed, although they were…  _different_ , somehow. Kihyun was unsure of what it was and it was somewhat discomforting to know that something was off about them, and yet he didn’t know  _what_.

But luckily for Kihyun, it wasn’t his table to wait. And if Kihyun was smart, which he was, he would keep his business amongst his own tables.

So Kihyun did just that, or at least he tried to, until one of them waved him over while he was passing with a wine bottle for his own table.

“Can we get that wine here?”

Kihyun blinked, feet stuck in place as he struggled to register that he was being spoken to. And it was only until one of the men, one of the older ones with greying hair, smiled at him. There was an odd yet unexplainable sense to that smile that made him feel uneasy, but Kihyun was in no place to refuse service unless he wanted to lose his job.

“S-Sir?” Kihyun rasped out before he took a hesitant step closer.

“That wine, we need some.”

“This is, uh, for another table, sir,” Kihyun let out with an awkward smile, “if you wish, I may let your waiter—”

“Just give us that wine, the whole bottle,” the man frowned, motioning to the bottle in his hands. These men were  _different_ , very different, and there was something dark and threatening in the man’s eyes that made Kihyun feel rather small—left his heart pounding in the worst kind of way.

“Yes, sir,” Kihyun swallowed the lump in his throat, placing the bottle down before him, and watching as he grabs the bottle to examine it.

“This is Chardonnay,” he sighed, passing the bottle back into Kihyun’s hands, “we would like some red wine.” Kihyun’s brows furrowed for the briefest of seconds, almost out of irritation, but quickly forced the anger away as he gave him a nod.

“Yes, sir, and do you have any in mind?”

“Hm. Give us your best Pinot Noir.”

“Right away, sir,” Kihyun bowed his head before turning on his heels, trying his best not to seem too eager to get away. He made his way to his intended table and served them their wine before rushing back past the traffic doors and headed straight into the wine cellar. He pressed his back against the door, the coldness of the metal soothing and numbing him at once.

It wasn’t even as if he’d never come across a stubborn guest, nor a guest who was too demanding and got snappy when Kihyun didn’t fulfill their requests fast enough.

Kihyun exhaled deeply, putting a hand to his chest and feeling the rather intense throbbing of his heart against his ribcage. Kihyun had no idea why, but he was frightened, terribly frightened, although there was no actual reason to be. He had just asked for wine. Just wine. That was all.

So Kihyun took in another deep breath to calm his nerves, shutting his eyes and picturing Yeonjung’s pretty little smile on the back of his eyelids, before he opened them again, picking out their best, most favored bottle of Pinot Noir wine and headed back out.

“Your wine,” Kihyun poured them each a glass with tender care and consideration before placing the bottle down in the bucket of ice. He swallowed hard, feeling each of their eyes on him, his every move. It wasn’t unusual for those being served to watch him, to keep their eyes on him until he was out of sight, but it was different this time. Their eyes felt like the eyes of carnivorous beasts, ones that weren’t truly hungry but were contemplating it.

He bowed his head before rushing away once again, heading straight for the back as his heart was racing all over again. It was suddenly so hot and Kihyun needed to—

Kihyun gasped out of shock after walking straight into another, and he hadn’t even noticed he was staring at the ground the entire time until he raised his gaze and saw...

“Changkyun?” Kihyun whispered, his voice barely audible. It was him, in all-black, though was dressed more formally than the other times Kihyun had previously encountered him. He was still… captivating, in the end, and Kihyun felt his mouth go dry. This was not what he had expected, and this was not how he expected to see Changkyun again.

While Changkyun  _did_ dress like the regulars at  _La Perle_ , it hadn’t occurred to Kihyun that he would ever appear at Kihyun’s restaurant, out of all restaurants.

“Hello, Kihyun hyung,” Changkyun greeted, seeming equally as surprised judging from the slight bewilderment in his eyes. “I was… unaware that you worked here.”

“Um, yeah,” Kihyun let out one of his uneasy laughs, “I work here, too, I guess.”

“Good, good to know,” Changkyun gave him a nod, smile growing a bit. Kihyun shifted on the balls of his feet.

“Oh, um,” Kihyun stepped aside, “sorry, I’m in your way.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the younger returned a laugh, almost shy even, “it was nice… seeing you again, hyung.” Kihyun sucked in his lower lip, taking it between his teeth as his eyes followed as Changkyun proceeded.

Kihyun quickly shoved his way into the kitchen through the traffic doors and searched through the tiny window on the door for a man in black. He spotted Changkyun, sitting down at a table for two, Kihyun’s eyes landing on the back of a woman with long, sleek black hair, a fancy black dress, red heeled stilettos. Changkyun smiled apologetically at her with a small laugh.

Kihyun’s stomach twisted in the ugliest of ways and there was that strange feeling creeped up his throat.

Swallowing down the forming knot, Kihyun spun back around on his heels. He had tables to serve.

  
  


 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright closing up alone?” Kihyun asked, turning to Hyunwoo with both a guilty yet pleading look in his eyes.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Kihyun,” Hyunwoo laughed lightly, “you should get home. It’s getting late, who knows, your daughter might still be awake and refusing to go to bed.”

Kihyun shifted hesitantly, part of him ready to dash out the door and get home, the other feeling the need to stay behind and help Hyunwoo close up the kitchen. The rest of the kitchen and wait staff had already taken their leaves for the night, leaving Kihyun and Hyunwoo to close after losing the staff's nightly rock-paper-scissors they all had to see who had to clean up for the day.

“Are you sure?”

“Go,” Hyunwoo grinned, nudging the smaller with his elbow, “I know how much you wanna go home. Tell Yeonjung I said hi. Your roommate too.”

“My roommate?” Kihyun giggled, nudging him back, “is there something you’re not telling me about?”

Hyunwoo stared at him, dumbfounded, before smiling and shaking his head.

“No, it’s not like that.”

“Hm. Well if there is, I’m bound to find out anyway~”

“Just go already, sheesh.”

Kihyun threw his head back with a loud laugh before collecting his things from the break room and proceeding to retrieve the leftovers for Minhyuk he snuck into the kitchen fridge earlier.

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you do know he has a boyfriend, right?”

“I told you, it’s not like that,” the taller scoffed, shoving him gently by the shoulder, “go home Kihyun.”

“Okay, if you say so~” Kihyun grinned, “thanks hyung!”

“Get home safely!”

“You too, hyung!” he yelled out as he stepped out, slinging his bag onto his shoulder as the mild temperature of the nighttime hit his face. It would be fall soon enough, and while Kihyun enjoyed the summertime, the fall was his favorite season of the year. It wasn’t too cold yet, and it wasn’t too warm either, so he didn’t have to worry about Yeonjung’s whines about it being too  _this_ or too  _that_.

Kihyun let the door close behind him before he spotted somebody leaning against the wall. Kihyun held back a gasp as he made out the figure.

A man. In all black.

“... _Changkyun_?” Kihyun blinked, stilling by the back door at the sight of the younger and swallowing down another knot that was forming in his throat.

“Hyung.”

“What are you… um… what are you doing here?” Kihyun questioned, checking down at the time on his phone. “It’s really late.”

“I was waiting for you.”

“That’s… questionable. Didn’t you come here with a date? Where is she?”

Changkyun stared at him, brows raised with an unreadable expression before a small smile overtook his features, and pushed himself off the wall.

“A date?” he asked as he stepped forward, Kihyun taking one towards him as well. “If that’s what you want to think it was, then sure.”

Kihyun frowned.  _What was that supposed to mean?_

“Um, so, why… are you here?”

“Well I was with my  _date_ ,” Changkyun shrugged as he slipped his hands into his pockets and stepped towards the street casually, and Kihyun found himself following, “but then I saw you, and decided that my  _date_ was a bit too… boring.”

Kihyun felt the subtle heat blooming on his cheeks, the tips of his ears probably turning a bit red, and hopefully under the gentle moonlight and dim streetlights, Changkyun wouldn’t see a thing.

“O-Oh.”

“How’s Yeonjung?” Changkyun asked as he fell into step with the elder, and Kihyun almost shuddered at the feeling of Changkyun’s gaze. Powerful, almost dominating, in a way.

“She’s been… great,” Kihyun answered, tearing his eyes away from Changkyun and chose to stare at the ground below his feet, trying hard  _not_ to avoid the cracks in the concrete like he usually does when he’s with Yeonjung (she squeals in fear when he does). “She  _still_ misses you, I think. She was really happy, with the lollipop, I mean.”

Changkyun smiled, a soft laugh leaving his lips as he did so. “And how are you?”

It was strange, just like last time they met at the convenience store. Kihyun wasn’t accustomed to hearing those words— _how are you_ —directed towards him, and it often left him hesitating out of surprise. The question was usually about Yeonjung, which Kihyun didn’t mind answering anyway, but hearing it directed towards him only reminded Kihyun that he… never really thinks about it. Never really  _thought_ about how  _he_ himself was doing. It didn’t matter, anyway, at least not to him. Or at least not while Yeonjung still needed him.

“I,” Kihyun started before taking his lower lip in between his teeth, thinking, “I’m good. Been busy with work, I guess, but it’s… the usual. How about you? We haven’t seen you in a while, again.”

“Same here, busy with work.”

“Really,” Kihyun turned to him and out of the corner of his eye, caught a glimpse of the gold watch around Changkyun’s wrist.

“I was out of town for a few days. I was down in Gwangju, actually.”

“Gwangju? What’s your profession? You always dress so nicely, are you a businessman? Are you rich?” Kihyun added with a teasing smile. Changkyun could only laugh lightly, a smile easily sliding onto his face.

“I guess you could say I’m a businessman,” the younger answered, “but rich? No, I wouldn’t say that I am."

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“Hyung,” Changkyun spoke, “I know it’s late but, would you like to go for a walk with me?”

“I…”

 _I honestly think you’re an idiot_.

Kihyun bit the inside of his cheek, remembering Minhyuk’s words to him from earlier. He looked down at the leftovers in his hand before looking back up at the younger, who was eyeing him expectantly.  _Fuck it, Minhyuk can wait for this goddamn steak._

“Sure.”

So Kihyun found himself walking side by side with the man in black, along the pathway at the city park. There was nobody else but them, which wasn’t a surprise since it was almost midnight. Kihyun came to realize that there was something strangely calming about this park at night. All the other times he’d been there, he was with Yeonjung, playing out in the sunlight amongst the other families and laughing children. But this time he was here, walking alongside a mysterious man, in almost pitch black darkness where only the moon was looking down on them from between the trees.

Most of the time, Kihyun would have gone straight home after finishing his shift. Although Seoul was typically considered to be one of the safest cities, one could never be too careful. Seoul was  _normally_ safe, but there was always bound to be  _something_ out there that wasn’t…  _normal_. There are always outliers, to everything, really, and Kihyun learned that from early on. Like how it wasn’t considered  _normal_ here to have a child at nineteen, and yet, here he was, an outlier.

But Kihyun hadn’t once looked over his shoulder. In fact, he didn’t even feel the need to.

Changkyun had this unusual aura to him. It was like he was somewhat untouchable in way, with how he looked, even with just how he stood there. Kihyun would have described it was threatening, or intimidating, but in reality…

The only word Kihyun could think of was  _safe._

It was strange.

Changkyun was practically a stranger, he still didn’t know anything  _that_ significant about him, and it was like Kihyun felt like he could trust him, although he didn’t trust him yet.  _Yet_. He hoped.

Though Kihyun didn’t know what he could talk about with the younger. It wasn’t the first time Kihyun had been… interested in somebody, and it wasn’t the first time he was ever in the situation of trying to get to know somebody, but this was different. Nothing about Changkyun was comparable to anyone else he’s ever met before, so he was, more or less, at a loss when it came to Changkyun. And yet there was that strong urge, that desire, to know him.

“So if you’re here,” Changkyun started, “and Yeonjung is home… who is watching over her?”

“Oh, just my roommate. Also happens to be Yeonjung’s godfather. My best friend, unfortunately. His name’s Minhyuk.”

“Ah,” the younger nodded, “he sounds pleasant.”

“Not exactly,” Kihyun snorted, holding up the plastic bag of leftovers in his hands, “I had to sneak out leftovers for him ‘cause he’s sort of a brat and was tired of eating kimchi all the time. He’s older than me by a couple weeks but most of the time I feel like I’m the older one. Although he does have a better job than me…”

“Speaking of jobs, you have two. Unless you have more…?”

“No, just those two. I work at the convenience store on the weekdays, in the mornings mostly, and afternoons. And I work at the restaurant on the weeknights plus Saturday. Sorta kinda broke. Having a kid isn’t easy.” Kihyun let out a bitter laugh, and felt a bit of guilt bubbling in the pit of his stomach. It was true, it wasn’t easy. But Kihyun would never  _ever_ regret Yeonjung. Not in a million years. Not even after death.

“I don’t mean to pry but…” Changkyun paused, and Kihyun looked up and noticed they were in front of the pretty stone fountain at the center of the park, the water still running despite the time of night. “Yeonjung’s mother…?”

Kihyun snorted. “She’s gone. Who cares. It’s just Yeonjung and I.”

“I see.” Changkyun nodded slowly, brows quirking in thought.

“Why? What does that mean, the eyebrow thing you just did.” Kihyun narrowed his eyes at him.

“Nothing,” Changkyun laughed softly, shaking his head, “I just found it good to know.”

“Good to know?”

“That you’re single.”

Kihyun’s face flushed a million shades darker as his mouth snapped shut, his teeth clashing against one another. He swallowed hard in attempt to suppress the loud thumping in his chest, his heart racing. It only egged Kihyun on further, to see Changkyun’s lips slowly pull into a pleased smirk, brow quirked upwards again.

“I never said I was single!”

“Well, are you?”

“What if I’m not?”

“Then that would be very disappointing, in my opinion,” Changkyun hummed, stepping closer until their chests were just a ruler away. Kihyun bit the inside of his cheek, tearing his eyes away from the younger’s to look at anything that wasn’t him. It bothered Kihyun, that his heart was racing this fast and yet he didn’t know what kind of game Changkyun  _thought_ he was playing.

It was all too dangerous, and Kihyun wasn’t allowed to like danger. His life— _Yeonjung’s_ life—were way too fragile for these kinds of… games.

“I-I am, but what of it?” scoffed the elder, eyes snapping back up to meet Changkyun’s. Only Changkyun wasn’t a ruler away anymore. Now it was just a few inches. Kihyun clenched his jaw, swallowing again and giving himself away—as Changkyun’s eyes dropped to his adam’s apple, watching in what must have been amusement as it bobbed up and down.

Kihyun breathed deeply through his nose, his grip around the plastic bag of leftovers tightening as Changkyun leaned in slightly, his dark brown eyes intense with its strong hold on Kihyun’s. And Kihyun remained there expectantly with all kinds of foolish thoughts, unable to look away no matter how red in the face he was, no matter how unhealthily fast his heart was beating.

“Oh, nothing,” the younger shrugged as he stepped away, “I was just being curious. That’s all.” Kihyun frowned, brows furrowing out of sheer irritation before he turned to see Changkyun’s back walking away from him.

“What?” Kihyun scoffed, rushing after him. He grabbed Changkyun by the arm and turned him, a bit roughly that had Changkyun’s eyes widen for a brief second. “You think this is some sort of game, don’t you?”

“A game?” Changkyun raised a brow. “Why—”

“I don’t understand what you want. I don’t understand why you’re even here—why  _I’m_ here! You—you were just on a date, hours before you suddenly show up waiting for me,  _apparently_ , and you’re just really  _weird_ and mysterious and it’s sort of freaking me out, but it’s frustrating because it only makes me more curious—”

“Hyung, slow down,” the younger laughed, “what are you trying to say?”

“I—I’m just— _ugh_!” Kihyun groaned, face burning and ears burning and most of all, his heart was burning with this kind of intense heat that he couldn’t exactly explain. “I’m saying that I wanna go out to dinner with you, or something!” And something compelled him to continue, like an idiot. “Or like, lunch, or I dunno, breakfast? I don’t know what you... eat… I dunno...”  _Fuck why did I say all that?_

“That’s such an interesting way to ask me out on a date.”

“I—I didn’t say I was asking you on a date!”

“Are you not?”

“I—” Kihyun flushed, averting his eyes elsewhere and gripping the container of leftovers tightly. “Yes? Somewhat? I don’t know. I don’t even know if you’re—”

“Well if you’re asking,” Changkyun grinned, “I’d love to.”

“—even— _oh_. Um…” Kihyun squeaked. “O-Okay.” And there it went again, his heart, pounding away at his ribcage. He was too busy trying to calm his erratic heart down that he hadn’t even noticed Changkyun walking away.

“Are you coming?” Changkyun called, from where he then stood near the exit of the park. “The bus should be here soon.”

Kihyun breathed deeply, biting down on his lower lip as he followed after Changkyun.

“And it wasn’t a date,” Changkyun suddenly added.

“What?”

“Earlier, back at the restaurant,” Changkyun shrugged, “it wasn’t a date. More of a… business dinner, you could say.”

“Looked a lot like a date to me,” Kihyun mumbled, “she had a really nice dress on.”

“If that’s what you want to believe, sure,” he snorted, “but if that’s what you want to believe, then I’ll believe that you may have been jealous. And that’s sort of nice to know.”

“What? I was  _not_...” Kihyun frowned, face flushing as Changkyun just grinned teasingly at him, a small bit of his tongue between his teeth, leaving Kihyun trying to ignore that light fluttering feeling in his gut and that warm, gentle burn that bloomed in his chest.

Maybe it’ll be a mistake. Maybe at some point, he’ll realize that he shouldn’t have been so selfish, and that maybe going after Changkyun could lead to another dead end. And maybe he really was an idiot, like Minhyuk had said.

But at the end of the day, Kihyun knew, he’d be an idiot either way. But at least he’d be an idiot who was happy, even if it were just for a little bit.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm finally on break from uni, and i might update again before i start next semester in a few weeks we'll see what happens cause i'm an actual mess i'm sorry y'all ahh
> 
> i also made a twitter just for my fics @kingkkung where i'm also trying (really hard tbh) to do a changki social media au! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! :~)


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